The present invention relates to those compositions which are used for removing sebum from the skin and especially from the face of a user.
Presently-known compositions for removing sebum from the skin of a user typically employ from 30 to 60 percent by weight of one or more of ethanol, acetone, and isopropanol. Ethanol, acetone and isopropanol, however, tend to defat the skin and remove the intercellular lipids critical for retaining moisture in the skin. Further, the sebum that is removed is replaced in as few as two to three hours on average. These compositions also frequently cause an unpleasant stinging sensation when applied.
Compositions are also described in Swiss Patent No. 456,045 which employ aqueous solutions of water-soluble glycol ethers for removing sebum from the skin of a user in the treatment of acne. The glycol ethers are present in the compositions in significant amounts, for example at 20-50 percent by weight.
These glycol ether-based compositions are a vast improvement over the more typical alcohol- or acetone-based compositions, in that the glycol ethers dissolve sebum well and can provide for extended suppression of normal sebum levels, but do not dissolve the intercellular lipids in the skin or produce an unpleasant stinging sensation. One very significant drawback to the glycol ether-based toning compositions, however, is that at the levels of glycol ethers employed in the Swiss patent, these compositions have a disagreeable odor which is not easily masked by perfumes.
The consumer is faced, then, with choosing between a toning composition which tends to dry out the skin, which produces a stinging sensation and which is not particularly effective over time, and a composition which is effective for a longer period of time and which does not sting or dry out the skin of a user, but which stinks or which involves a strong masking scent. Neither option is particularly appealing.